Bracket for mounting automatic rifles



June 8, 1943. c. G. Down 2,321,018

BRACKET FOR MOUNTING AUTOMATIC RIFLES Filed Oct. l, 1941 Patented June 8, 1943 BRACKET Fon MoUN'riNG AU'roMAfrrc amplis Charles G. Dowd, Baltimore, Md.

Application October 1, 1941, Serial No. lH3108 (C1. 2li-64) (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. '157) 7 Claims.

The invention described herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Governmentl for governmental purposes Without the payment of any royalty thereon.

The present invention relates to gun racks and more specically to a military type rifle rack constructed and arranged to support any one of the several types of military rifles adopted as standard in the United States Army.

It will be appreciated that inasmuch as there are several military rifles used by the Army at are concerned are primarily intended to be mounted in military vehicles used at the scene of military combat, it is of utmost importance that the racks be so designed as to permit instant availability of the arm. It will be further? appreciated that since racks of the character with which this invention is concerned are not limited to stationary installations but are intended for use in military vehicles which may vbe called upon to travel at high speeds over rough terrain, it is essential that positive means be provided for securing the rearm in the rack to prevent accidental displacement due to the jolting or jarring of the vehicle in its movement over rough ground, It is also considered essential, however, to provide means whereby the rifle may be instantly released from the rack without the operation of any complicated type of retainers, since it, may often be necessary for the soldier to avail himself of the rie in total darkness where any necessity of operation of complicated types of the retaining devices might prevent instantaneous availability of the arm.

jIt is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide a new and improved military rie rack composed of a single, unitary sheet metal channel bent to conform with the general shape of the standard military rifle and to provide a pocket to receive the stock of the rifle and a muzzle socket to receive the rifle muzzle.

A further object of the invention is to provide a muzzle socket for a rie rack including Va takeup or compensating spring in order that the muzzle socket may adapt itself to different sizes and shapes of rifle muzzles without the necessity of any manual adjustment.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rifle rack including a muzzle socket and a retaining clip including a spring release which will maintain the riiie muzzle in position against all normal forces incident to vehicle movement, but will be yieldable to positive force whenever a soldier grasps the rifle rmly to withdraw it from the rack.

These and other important objects are accomplished in the present invention, a preferred embodiment of which is illustrated in the drawing, wherein Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of rifle rack.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view.

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of the preferred iorm of muzzle socket.

Fig. 4 is a detail plan sectional View of the muzzle socket shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional View of a modified form of muzzle socket.

Fig. 6 is a detail plan view of the modied form of muzzle socket shown in Fig. 5.

The rie rack disclosed in the drawing includes in general a frame I0 and a muzzle socket Il. The frame l0 is preferably formed of a single piece of channel iron having a vertical portion I2 adapted to be secured'to the body of a truck or other vehicle by suitable screws positioned in the screw holes I3 in order that the entire rifle rack may be secured to the wall I5 of the vehicle. The channel I2 includes side flanges I4 which arel flared outwardly at Ill to accommodate the'breech and bolt mechanism of the rifle. At the lower end of the channel I2 the metal is offset angularly to provide a downwardly extending angle portion or supporting channel IB terminating at its lower end in a stock pocket I'I having side flanges I8 and a front flange I9 and being of dimensions to receive and closely fit the stock of a military rie.

The muzzle of the rifle is secured in position in the muzzle socket Il in such a manner-that the muzzle socket and stock socket heretofore described will cooperate to maintain thev rifle against accidental displacement. The muzzle socket Il consists of a substantially lll-shaped metal strip having a central portion 2l` bolted or otherwise secured to the upper extremity of the channel and including a pair of side arms 22 and 23 extending forwardly and having their inner faces lined with cushion material such aS the leather facings 25. A yieldable retainer clip 24 is mounted on a hinge pin at the outer end of the strip 23 and is provided with a spring pressed cap 26 arranged to be urged inwardly by means of a concealed spring 21 so that the cap 26 will be held in engagement with the outer surface of the strip 22.

To facilitate rm engagement of the retainer clip, the strip 23 is formed with a bifurcated end portion 51 curved outwardly to form a cam surface, so that the retainer clip will not easily be dislodged from its latched position, but the' portion 51 is inclined at an angle so that if suiiicient force is exerted tending to move it K outwardly, it will ride over` the outwardly curved portion and release.

To prevent damage to the rie barrel the retainer clip is cushioned by a fibre tube 128 telescoped over the clip and arranged to lie between the outer ends of the strips 22 and 23.

It has been mentioned hereinbefore that it is one of the objects of this invention to provide a clip for a rifle rack which is capable of receiving several types of military rifles and inasmuch as these various riiies diifer somewhat in dimensions, a takeup spring 29 is secured to the mounting bolt hereinbefore described and the opposite end of the takeup spring is cushioned with a rubber or fibre tube 3l so that as the rifle is inserted in the muzzle socket the spring will be compressed and when the retainer clip is secured in position the spring 29 will exert a resilient pressure against the rifle and prevent looseness and vibration due to the motion of the vehicle.

From the above construction, it will be seen that the spring and cam action of the yieldable retainer clip will provide ysufficient resistance to prevent accidental displacement of the rifie during the movement of a. vehicle even over extremely rough terrain and at high speeds, but that whenever the soldier .grasps the muzzle of the^` firearm and withdraws it-from the rack the spring of the retaining clip will be overcome and the clip will be released, leaving the rifle free and instantly available for use.

The modified form of the invention is shown in Figs. and 6 of the drawing. In this form the muzzle `socket includes a base plate 4| provided with a forwardly extending rod 42 terminating in a hook portion 43 adapted to receive the outer end of an L-shaped retaining clip 44. The retaining clip 44 is pivotally mounted on the base plate 4I and is provided with a tubular fibre cushion portion 45 to prevent scratches or other damage to the muzzle of the rifle. In this form of the invention the various dimensions of rifle muzzles are accommodated by a pair of take-up springs 46 and 41 telescoped on the rod 42 and retaining clip 44, respectively, and arranged to urge a takeup plate 48 outwardly. The takeup plate 48 is also cushioned with a leather facing 49 to prevent damage to the rifle muzzle.

In operation, this device affords a positive locking for the rifle muzzle by virtue of the fact that the retainer clip is positively engaged in the hook portion 43 and cannot be released without upward movement of the L-shaped retainer clip. However, such releasing movement may be easily accomplished ,since it is only necessary to lift the knob 50 vof the outer end of the retaining clip and the riiie will then spring forwardly into the hands ofthe soldier .by the action of the compensating springs 41 and48.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A rifle rack including a frame portion consisting of a longitudinal vertical channel having side flanges coextensive with the channel and provided with ilared portions to receive the bolt mechanism of a riile, a stock pocket portion including side flanges and a front flange of dimensions to receive and support the lower extremity of a rifle stock, a supporting channel portion extending angularly between the lower end of the aforementioned vertical channel and the aforementioned stock pocket, all of said portions being of integral construction of a single metallic channel member and a U-shaped muzzle socket mounted at the upper end of the frame consisting of side members, a take-up spring on the muzzle socket, a hinged mounting on one of the side members and a cam surface on the other, and a spring retainer clip adapted to extend from the hinged mounting on one of said side members across the mouth of the muzzle rsocket and into yieldable spring urged engagement with the cam surface on the opposite side member, said side members, takeup spring, and muzzle retaining clip being provided with facing material to provide a cushion for the metallic portions of rvthe riiie.

2. A rifle rack including a frame portion consisting O f a longitudinal vertical channel member provided with iiared portions to receive the bolt mechanism of a rilie, na stock pocket portion :in-

. cluding side flanges and a front flange of dimensions to receive and support the lower extremity of a rie stock, all of said portions being of integral construction of a single metallic member, and a U-shaped muzzle socket mounted at the upper end of the frame consisting of side members, a takeup spring mounted on the muzzle socket, a cam surface on one of said side members, and a spring retainer clip pivotally mounted on the other side member extending between said side members and adapted to close the mouth of the muzzle socket, said clip being normally secured in yieldable spring urged engagement zby means of said cam surface.

3. A rie rack including a frame portion consisting of a longitudinal frame member provided with liared portions to receive the bolt mechanism of a. rifle, a stock pocket to receive and support the lower extremity of a rifle stock, all of said elements being of integral construction, and a U-shaped muzzle socket mounted on the upper end of the frame, including side members a spring retainer clip pivotally mounted on one side member and a cam surface on the other, the clip being adapted to maintain a firearm muzzle in said socket, said clip being normally maintained in yieldable spring urged engagement with the cam surface whereby the action of the cam will compress said spring and allow the clip to ride over the cam surface to release the rifle muzzle responsive to positive exterior forces acting on the rifle.

4. In combination with a rie rack including a frame portion having means to receive the bolt mechanism of a rifle and a stock pocket to receive and support the lower extremity of a rifle stock, a muzzle socket mounted on the upper end of the frame consisting of side members, a takeup spring in the muzzle socket, a hinged rmounting on one of said side members and a retatiner clip adapted to extend from the hinged `mounting on one of said side members across the mouth of the muzzle socket and into engagement with the .op-

posite side member, said side members, takeup spring, and muzzle retaining clip being provided with facing material to provide a cushion for the metallic portions of the rifle.

5. In combination with a rifle rack including a fra-me portion having means to receive the bolt mechanism of a rifle and a stock pocket to receive and support the lower extremity of a rifle stock, a U-shaped muzzle socket mounted on the upper end of the frame consisting of side members, a takeup spring mounted on the muzzle socket, a hinged mounting on one of said side members, a cam surface on the other side members and a spring retainer clip adapted to extend from the hinged mounting on one of said side members across the mouth of the muzzle socket and into yieldable spring urged engagement with the cam surface on the opposite side member, said side members, takeup spring, and muzzle retaining clip being providedwith facing material to provide a cushion for the metallic portions of the rie.

6. A rie rack consisting of a longitudinal channel shaped frame portion including a pocket to receive the bolt mechanism of a rifle; a stock pocket on said frame adjacent one of its ends, the stock pocket including a bottom plate, side flanges, and a front ange adapted to receive and support a rifle stock; and a muzzle socket on said frame at the opposite end of the frame and spaced apart from the aforementioned stock pocket, said muzzle socket including bottom and side rifle supporting surfaces adapted to engage the muzzle of a rie on three sides and a retaining clip, pivoted to one side of the muzzle socket and engaging means on the other side, and extending across the muzzle socket to engage the muzzle of the riiie on the fourth side and thus secure the rifle in the muzzle socket 7. A rifle rack consisting of a longitudinal channel shaped frame portion including a pocket to receive the bolt mechanism of a rifle; a stock pocket on said frame adjacent one of its ends, the stock pocket including a bottom plate, side iianges, a front flange adapted to receive and suD- port a rie stock; and a muzzle socket on said frame at the opposite end of the frame and spaced apart from the aforementioned stock pocket, said muzzle pocket including bottom and side rie supporting surfaces adapted to engage the muzzle of a rifle on three sides and a retaining clip, pivoted to one side of the muzzle socket and engaging means on the other side, and extending across the muzzle socket to engage the muzzle of the rifle on the fourth side and thus secure the rie in the muzzle socket; together with at least one take-up spring to exert yieldable pressure between the frame and rif-1e muzzle.

CHARLES G. DOWD. 

